There are three reserved tag names, arguments, entry and ref.

Use class name together with package name to be the general element tag name. For example, mypackage.className.

Class name together with package name might be a long string. You can define short cut for a class name.

To define the short cut for a class name, you must define a Map containing the mapping between the short cut and the real class name. The Map must be defined in your TagProvider, together with your element definition. You must use classTable as the ID:

With this factory, you can define your element as follows:

You can use the full class name too. The <simpleElement id="aSimpleElement" /> equals <mypackage.SimpleElement id="aSimpleElement" />.

The following table lists the predefined short cuts for class names:

Although ElementFactory provides the capability to short cut the class name, it is not suggested to be widely used to avoid confusion.

There are some criterions to use class name short cut: